David’s story

David started playing table tennis at the age of 10 at his local club Crafthole, where his father coached, and soon progressed to the Plymouth League with Woolwell TTC. Having a father and an older brother who played spurred him on and he immediately fell in love with the speed and intensity of the game. “Table tennis is a sport that I’ve loved ever since I first picked up a bat,” says David. “I was always trying to beat my dad and my brother in the first few years. Eventually I got there, and they haven’t beaten me since.”

David made his international debut in 2005 and has represented ParalympicsGB in Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016. In Beijing he beat the home favourite and former champion in the first round on his way to reaching the last eight and his spectacular diving shot against his German opponent in London 2012 became a YouTube sensation although he went on to lose the match.

Having reached the semi-finals in the European Championships in 2011, David was hoping to medal at the Europeans in 2013 but struggled to find his form in Italy and did not progress to the knockout stages. However, he finished the season on a positive note by taking gold in the class 6 singles at the Belgium Open.

“It was a bit up and down,” he says of his form in 2013. “I did struggle after London with the disappointment of my performance there and I had a few niggling injuries at the start of the year but I had some good results, reached two finals and beat the Paralympic champion three times so that was encouraging.”

David started 2014 by winning the class 6 National title and followed that with medals in Italy, Slovenia and Slovakia. After taking time away from international competition to work on improvements to his game he returned in June 2015 at the Romania Open where he took gold in both singles and team events. He followed this with medals in Thailand and Korea and was selected for the European Championships in Denmark where he produced some great performances to take bronze in the singles and silver in the team event with Paul Karabardak.

David won singles medals in Italy and Slovakia in 2016 and reached the quarter-finals of the men’s class 6 singles in the Paralympic Games in Rio, losing 3-2 to the Spanish World number one Alvaro Valera after holding a match point.

“I did everything I could,” he said afterwards. “I’ve really struggled this week to find my feeling for the ball and it clicked into gear mentally today. I was so on it and I feel that I played him tactically perfect. The match point was maybe playing on my mind a bit in the fourth – it is impossible not to have it in the back of your mind as you feel it is a wasted opportunity. On another day I could have won that point and I’d be in the semi-finals but I can be proud of how I played today.”

In 2017 David was part of the men’s class 6 team that won bronze at the World Team Championships and produced his best performance at a major championship to date at the European Championships in Slovenia, coming through some tough five set matches to take silver in the men’s class 6 singles (losing to Valera in the final) and then winning gold in the men’s class 6 team event with Paul Karabardak and Martin Perry.

“In hindsight I should have taken my chances a bit more in the previous rounds,” said David after the singles, “as I made it more difficult for myself than it could have been. At the end of the day I got the wins but sometimes over the course of a tournament you have your ups and downs and you need to conserve your body a little bit. I’ve got to pay big credit to Tim Pitt our psychologist because he has really helped me for the past few years – that part of table tennis is massive especially in the finals and the major medal matches.”

Diagnosed at birth with multiple epiphyseal dysplasia, which affects the growing ends of the bones, David was also affected by Fallows tetralogy, a congenital heart defect, and had open heart surgery as a baby. Table tennis has provided him with an outlet for his competitive spirit and also helped him to overcome the physical problems caused by his condition.

“Table tennis is a sport I can play without too many limitations,” he explains, “but it is something I can compete at alongside able-bodied people. It was good for rehabilitation from all the operations I had as a child and now it keeps me active and driven to stay fit and healthy. The main thing is that it has given me such a great opportunity to achieve something massive in life – without this, those tough times would have been a lot harder for sure.”

Take 5 with David:

Most admired sportsman – Gianfranco Zola

Three famous people you would like to have a drink with – Emma Watson, Jose Mourinho, Andy Murray

Person who has influenced you most – my dad for inspiring me to play table tennis and my mum for helping me through thick and thin

Sporting event you would most like a ticket for – Wimbledon

Place in the world you would most like to visit – Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro

and finally – David has a degree in biological chemistry from Sheffield University